Tool theft from vans is a miserable, common crime, and trackers get sold hard as the fix. They do have a place. A tracker can occasionally lead to recovery, and it can deter an opportunist who spots the sticker. But recovery is the exception, not the rule. Tools move fast, get split up and sold on, and a tracker on the van does nothing for the box that has already been lifted out of it.

The conversation that actually decides whether you are made whole is with your insurer, and it happens before anything is stolen. Insurers want to know what you had, that you can prove it, and that the van was secured as your policy required. A claim falls down not on the theft but on the paperwork: no serial numbers, no receipts, no photos, no proof the deadlocks were fitted and used.

That is why the register matters more than the tag. A simple list - make, model, serial number, a photo, and where you bought it - turns a vague loss into a documented claim. It also means the police have something to circulate, and that a tool recovered elsewhere can actually be tied back to you. The register is what converts sympathy into a settlement.

So do both, but in the right order. Get the register straight first, because it costs nothing and it is what your claim rests on. Then add security that matches your policy: proper locks, off the street where you can, tools out of the van overnight if that is realistic. A tracker on top is fine. Just do not let it be the only thing you rely on.